TOPIC: Curtian System Repair

We are trying to find someone who can help us to repair a motorized curtian system in a 512 seat theater in Tucson, Arizona. I belive that the electric motors are working, but the cables are damaged and they need to be rethreaded properly.

Tru-Roll Corporation out Glendale California is the company whos name appears on the curtian control boxes. Technitions at Tru-Roll seem too busy to help me with this small but long distant job. Can anyone give any helpful information on how to get our curtians fixed? Thank you.

Probably what has happened is that the rope has worn through and parted exposing the inner steel cable. The frayed ends of the rope then catch on the eyelets of the wheel carriages and won't go through, and thus the curtain won't operate.

If that is the case, you need new cable and just have to thread it completely through your system. Is your curtain track dead hung or is it flown so that it can be dropped to the floor? If flown it will be easy to do as you can drop the track to 4 or 5 feet above the floor making the cable installation easy. If the track is dead hung, then it will require either ladders or scaffolding to get up to it so you can thread the cable through. It is something that can be done inhouse. It really isn't that difficult. It's just time consuming. The cable is only fastened to the lead carriage of both sides of the curtain. The most important thing to remember is to make sure that the splice where the two ends of the cable meet never enters into the carriage system or onto the motor pulley. The splice must be between the motor pulley and the curtain track pulley at the motor end of the track. It usually should be just above the motor pulley (assumimg the motor is on the floor)when the curtain is closed, and when the curtain is being opened it will travel upward and stop before it gets to the track pulley above.

If you have a professional do it, it will cost you many hundreds of dollars in labor, maybe as much as a thousand depending on the time and distance. If you or your staff, or maybe even volunteers do it, the cost may be no more then the cable which might cost a hundred bucks.

[This message has been edited by RoxyVaudeville (edited February 13, 2004).]